Looking for alternate Sparge Methods for Anvil Foundry

[kegtoe]

I'm curious if anyone has been doing alternative sparge methods with the Anvil Foundry, especially on the 10.5. Curious if some are using more than the 1 gallon. Are bag users pulling a bag and sparge in a different vessel? (I used to do this on my BIAB propane system). What other methods?

The dedicated AF thread is tremendously long and it's hard to pick out specific questions so I thought I'd post a new question.

 

[241]

I just ready a pot on my stove and slowly poor it over

 

[Oginme]

An inherent inefficiency in the Anvil design is the large gap between the basket and the side wall of the unit. The water trapped in this area has very little sugars which have diffused from the bottom of the kettle. On my 6.5 gal Anvil, this amounts to 2.9 liters of water which is not directly involved in solubilizing starches and the subsequently produced sugar. I typically mash with about 15 liters of water, so that would make it around 19% of the water added is not used in the mash. I can only guess at the volume in the 10.5 gal Anvil, but it will be close to proportionally the same.

Having measured the gravity of the water alongside the basket versus the wort which is recirculated and in the mash basket a couple of times, I decided to lift the mash basket about halfway through the mash and then again just before mash out to mix this water trapped on the sides of the basket into the active wort.

I was getting around 83% mash efficiency (I do full volume/no sparge mashes) and increased that to 86% to 88% on my last four brews trying this new method. It is a bit more work and still have some additional work to nail down the process to get it a bit more consistent, but it does make a noticeable improvement in extraction efficiency.

 

[kegtoe]

was getting around 83% mash efficiency (I do full volume/no sparge mashes) and increased that to 86% to 88% on my last four brews trying this new method. It is a bit more work and still have some additional work to nail down the process to get it a bit more consistent, but it does make a noticeable improvement in extraction efficiency.

Wow 80+%. I have done 2 batches both in a bag. only getting 60%. My old propane BIAB method was getting me 83%.

 

[Dovage]

Wow 80+%. I have done 2 batches both in a bag. only getting 60%. My old propane BIAB method was getting me 83%.

Same, I brewed today on the 10.5 and got 63%. Was hoping for better since I milled at the smallest gap. I'll have to give the lift and stir a try. I've noticed some have blocked of the side holes and claim it increases there efficiency.

 

[Oginme]

Extraction efficiency is mostly controlled by the quality of your grind. My grist looks like very coarse cornmeal with split and partially shredded hulls.

I use a bag to line the mash basket and will be experimenting with leaving out the mash basket once I get something to prevent channeling of the recirculating wort through the grain bed.

My typical mash time these days is around 90 minutes, because I have had much more consistent efficiency with higher gravity brews with the increased mash time. The recirculation of wort is throttled back to around a liter per minute so that the mash bed does not compact. I replaced the pinch clamp for controlling the flow with a small gate valve to give me better control and repeatability.

I have also had 47 brews on my Anvil to work on my process and slowly make changes to evaluate the effects.

 

[skarz]

I use a bag to line the mash basket and will be experimenting with leaving out the mash basket once I get something to prevent channeling of the recirculating wort through the grain bed.

This is my new method with my Robobrew. All I use is the false bottom and a BIAB grain bag. Because there's no dead space between the malt pipe and the outside wall I feel like there is less vertical pressure thus less chance for a stuck mash. When the mash is complete I move the grain bag to a separate bucket and just let the wort drain out then transfer back to Robobrew. Maybe a bit unconventional but it's really simplified my brew days.

 

[Off Balance Brewing]

I'm only a 3 brews in with my 10.5 but I'm also considering a larger sparge to help efficiency. Right now my BHE is mid 60s with moderate 12 pound grain bills. Just hit a 54 with my first 16 pound bill and a 1.5 gallon sparge. I'm going to try a 1.0 lb/qt water mash ratio for my next 16 pound recipe, add a 1 gallon dead space and back out the max I can sparge. I also might try rice hills next time.

 

[cmac62]

Since I have one, I have used my 10 gal cooler MT, I heat the water to 170ish on my old propane burner, pull the malt pipe place it into the cooler and pour on about 1-2 gals of sparge water and vorlauf until it runs clear, I then pull the MP, pour the sparge into the AF and replace the MP to drain as everything comes to a boil. I have only brewed 3 batches on it, but my average is in the 80s. I hope this helps

 

[Off Balance Brewing]

So you do like a double recir? One for mash and one for sparge

Is the 80 mash eff or brewhouse?

 

[cmac62]

Brewhouse. The only way I figured that out was adjust the BHE on Brewers Friend until it hit what I got for an OG. LOL, I'm not much for the math stuff in brewing.

 

[cmac62]

So you do like a double recir? One for mash and one for sparge

It is basically a dunk/patch sparge, I initially pour the water over the grain, lift the pipe a couple of times to get everything thoroughly rinsed, then run some wort through the grain bed in order to remove some of the trub/cloudiness. It doesn't really add any time if you are heating the sparge water while the mash is happening. I think my next batch I'll do a full volume and then a partygyle small beer with the 2nd runnings and boil them on my old stuff. I used to do three beers at once, a big beer, and medium beer and then put all of the grain together and sparge for a free beer. LOL.

 

[bwible]

I use a bag to line the mash basket and will be experimenting with leaving out the mash basket once I get something to prevent channeling of the recirculating wort through the grain bed.

What kind of bag fits the 6.5 basket? I have a grain bag but its large and I thought it would cause a problem so I’m not using it. But I have considered this.

 

[Oginme]

The Brew Bag or Wilser bags both make custom bags and offer sizes which fit the Anvil. I like both of the bags fro different reasons. The Wilser bag does not have straps and fits in the basket better. The Brew Bag has straps which offer a lot of support for the bag and make it easier to remove when not using the mash basket. Both are quality bags and worth the investment, IMHO.

 

[mbg]

I started using the Wisler bag on my 10.5 without the pipe and pour over sparging is difficult. Like others above on my last brew I drained the bag (using my hoist). Then moved it to a 5-gal round cooler and spagred it. Dunked it/out a few times. I got my highest mash eff. yet doing this 80.2% (I'm usually in the mid 70's)!

 

[Dancy]

The Brew Bag or Wilser bags both make custom bags and offer sizes which fit the Anvil. I like both of the bags fro different reasons. The Wilser bag does not have straps and fits in the basket better. The Brew Bag has straps which offer a lot of support for the bag and make it easier to remove when not using the mash basket. Both are quality bags and worth the investment, IMHO.

I use the Wilser on my Mash&Boil malt pipe and like it for the mere 2 times I’ve used it so far. I’ve used The Brew Bag many times in my 10G Igloo Cooler and loved it. Both are quality bags.

 

[bwible]

The Brew Bag or Wilser bags both make custom bags and offer sizes which fit the Anvil. I like both of the bags fro different reasons. The Wilser bag does not have straps and fits in the basket better. The Brew Bag has straps which offer a lot of support for the bag and make it easier to remove when not using the mash basket. Both are quality bags and worth the investment, IMHO.

$46.50?? Ouch

 

[TheMadKing]

Extraction efficiency is mostly controlled by the quality of your grind.

I'm going to gently disagree with that. Extraction efficiency is mostly controlled by the amount of water in contact with your grist. Your grind certainly influences that in a huge way, but it is not the only factor, especially in a recirculating system like the Anvil. You also have to factor in dead space (as you have pointed out), and channelling through the grain (which I suspect is the majority of people's problem).

A coarser grind with in-tact hulls may actually improve efficiency if the primary reason for low efficiency is channelling. Adding rice hulls can help too

Cheers

 

[Dancy]

$46.50?? Ouch

I purchased a Wilser @ $32 and requested it be made to fit the OUTside of the M&B, not just the malt pipe because I didn’t want grain to drop in between when pouring it into the malt pipe.

 

[ATLBeer]

Why are you using the bag and the mash pipe?

 

[Dancy]

Why are you using the bag and the mash pipe?

I understand why some don’t want to do that but frankly, I wanted an all-in-one unit to make it easier to brew in my small kitchen. I like lifting the malt pipe and letting it sit on the supports vs. using a pulley. Also, I have the M&B with the pump and I want zero grain getting down below and clogging the intake for the pump. That doesn’t happen with the bag.